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Well, Aetna confirmed that this IS their policy... 10 months of rental fees followed by a rental fee every 6 months until I get another machine from them or my coverage ends. But I will never own this machine and if I lose my job, I have to send the machine back to Apria, too.

That's a real bummer... really looking at the machines on that Supplier #2 site... what a scam.

(07-03-2016, 08:58 AM)KSMatthew Wrote: I looked back on this thread, I saw that you paid $649 plus a rental fee? I've seen that model online for around $850 USD total (depending on humidifier and other options).

I would think you could call around to a few different places to get ideas and pricing on comparable systems.

PM if you want, I'll give you the place I use. I'm a new member and I don't want people thinking I'm pushing something.

No, the rental fees have added up to $649, with which I could have bought a machine. I paid the whole rental fee for the first 4 months ($58) and then I paid 20% of the rental fee and Aetna paid 80% of the rental fee after that (I met my deductible). I should have said that rental fees for this machine have already added up to $649. Sorry, I wasn't clear.

Let me just say that my experience with Apria is the worst of any company I've ever in my life dealt with... and I'm 71 years old.

Fortunately, I purchased my machine and supplies initially from a different supplier and my experience with that supplier was very favorable. I moved about a year ago and that's when my DME insurance fell under Apria and that's when my problems began.

I won't go into a lot of detail here because it raises my blood pressure to think about it. It took 5-6 months for them to get all the paperwork and sleep study results before I could get my first order through them. I was forced to use a failing mask and improvised filters during that time despite calls to them every 10 days to 2 weeks during which they told me my order would ship within 10 days to 2 weeks.

This past week I received one of those 5-page letters whereby they're asking me to agree to all their legalize and sign over my credit card info. This despite my insurance being with Medicare Parts A & B and Tricare for Life which pays for everything Medicare doesn't pay. I know from past experience they would then start to charge me directly for any of their screw-ups with insurance claims. As others have said here, giving them my credit card info is the last thing I would ever do.

As you can tell, I hate Apria with a passion! How they can remain in business with such poor customer service is beyond me. They have my apnea physician in their pocket so he's no help. I've said as much to one of their so-called supervisors knowing that I was wasting my breath. As soon as I can investigate and find an alternative Medicare-approved supplier I'll be switching away from them.

I know I've already put in my 2 cents -- now, here's a nickle.
Anyone who has traditional Medicare receives EOBs from CMS. They show what amount was billed, how much Medicare approved, how much Medicare paid, and what's left for the secondary insurer.

When this DME screws up, they will not ding your credit card for what Medicare would have authorized -- they'll gouge a person for the entire "billed amount."

Quote:I know I've already put in my 2 cents -- now, here's a nickle.
Anyone who has traditional Medicare receives EOBs from CMS. They show what amount was billed, how much Medicare approved, how much Medicare paid, and what's left for the secondary insurer.

When this DME screws up, they will not ding your credit card for what Medicare would have authorized -- they'll gouge a person for the entire "billed amount."

Yeah, to the tune of $1,562.10 for my last order if it were to be denied by Medicare for some reason!

I hesitate to ask, but is Lincare any better? They are also in my network and have a local office (Apria's office is 1.5 hours away). There's not alot of them to choose from, frankly. There's a bunch of DMEs but most of them do not list CPAP as something they deal with.

Other than these two, there are a couple of others that are in-network. I don't see any of them on the supplier list, so I'm not sure I'm allowed to post them all here.

Useful Links

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.